A Walk to Remember - [F1 - Daniel Ricciardo]

Chapter 12

      They entered the elevator and Daniel pressed the top-floor button. Scarlett looked at him confused. As they exited on the top floor. She could see the same hotel employee from the morning waiting at the door at the end of the hallway. She looked at Daniel again, even more confused. The employee opened the door and Daniel climbed up the ladder first and reached down to help Scarlett up.
       There was a picnic blanket set up on the roof with a basket of food, a bottle of wine and two wine glasses. A couple of candles were set up around the rooftop. Scarlett was frozen on the spot as she looked from the gorgeous set up and then back to Daniel.
      "Daniel" She gasped. "This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me," Scarlett said.
Daniel took her hand and led her to the blanket.        He sat down and poured them each a glass of wine. He held his up "Here is to a great time," he said.
       Scarlett smiled, held hers up and said "A great time, but not a long time," She said as she clinked glasses with Daniel.
        Daniel's face fell when she said that, but he took a sip of his wine. "Back to teaching when you get home?" he asked.
       Scarlett nodded "Yup, honestly, Montreal is probably still a little chilly right now, I'm going to miss this weather. So you're heading back to work after this I'm assuming." Scarlett asked.
      "I'm actually heading to Australia for a bit, some work stuff and visiting family." He said,
      "That will be lovely, and a lot warmer than where I'm going." She laughed. "Wait, I just realized, how did you get the employee to let us up here?" She asked.
      "I pulled some strings," Daniel winked.
      Scarlett laughed, "Tell me about your parents," She said smiling.
      Daniel then told her about his mom also being a teacher and stories about his family growing up in Australia.
      "Your childhood sounds like it was wonderful," Scarlett smiled.
      "How about yours?" Daniel asked.
       "Honestly, I was so lucky to have met Mia in elementary school. Without her and her family, my childhood would have been very lonely. My dad and mom worked long hours and didn't really pay that much attention to me, so I was on my own a lot. Mia and her family took me in and made me feel like part of their family." Scarlett said as she took the final sip of her wine.
      Daniel didn't break eye contact with Scarlett as he listened and leaned over and poured her another glass of wine. "I'm sorry to hear that your childhood was pretty lonely at home, is that why you became a teacher?" He asked still looking intently at her.
      "Exactly actually, I wanted to try to make a difference any way I could, being a sports reporter is my personal dream, but I would be happy to know I did make a difference in some children's lives." Scarlett sighed and looked out to the water and the sunset. She leaned over and rested her head on Daniel's shoulder. "I would love to never leave this rooftop," She joked.
      Daniel turned his head and gently kissed the top of her head. "Me too" is all he said as a comfortable silence fell over the two of them.
As the last of the candles had burnt out, they decided it would be best to head to bed. Scarlett looked up at Daniel as she got to her hotel room door, "Thank you for an incredible night, I will never forget it" She said blushing. Daniel pulled her in for a tender kiss.
       Daniel smiled at her, "I'll see you tomorrow when you walk down the aisle, I can't wait to see you in your dress" He winked.
       Scarlett took his face in her hand and gave him one last kiss. "I can't wait to see you in a tux" She giggled and turned and opened her door. As the door closed behind her, she turned to see Thomas standing right in front of her. "Thomas, you scared me," she said as she held her chest.
       "What did you two get up to?" He asked as he pulled her arm and made her sit on her bed.
       "We had a picnic on the roof, he put out candles, and a blanket and had food and wine." She gushed.
       "Girl, that sounds so incredible. But from what I heard in the hallway-"
        "Stop" Scarlett cut him off. "I don't want to think about having to leave, I do really like him, I just need to enjoy this time and then leave, and not look back," She said as she fell back on the bed.